SAMUEL'S CAVE. 369 



Caledonian wilds. An additional proof, if additional proofs are 

 ■wanting, that Samuel's Cave can never have been " inhabited " in 

 any proper sense of that term, or even much frequented for any 

 purpose whatever, is to be found in the fact that there is not a 

 vestige of a path either from the river bank below or from the 

 hill above leading towards it. Had it at any time been much in 

 use for any purpose, there must have been a path leading to it 

 either from above or from below, and some traces at least, however 

 faint, of such a path, must still exist. We searched and searched, 

 above and below, and round and round, and no trace or vestige 

 at all of such a path could we find. Go, good reader, and see the 

 cave by all means when you have the opportunity ; it is a fair 

 enough cave as caves go ; but take our word for it that the attempt 

 to invest the vast dark, damp, slimy antrum with any archaeological 

 interest is the greatest delusion in the world. 



